LIVE: AT least two people have been killed — including gunman Man Haron Monis — in the Martin Place cafe siege after heavily armed police stormed the location.

As a result, the siege at the Lindt cafe in the centre of Sydney’s CBD is over.

A man was seen running with his hands up before as many as 15 hostages followed running from the cafe just after 2am. A short burst of gunfire and flash grenades were heard as police stormed the building before police declared the siege over at around 2.45am.

At least four hostages are believed to have been injured, perhaps three critically, as hostages fled the cafe and police stormed the building just after 2am.

Reports are emerging a third person may have died possibly suffering a heart attack after the siege.

Australian paramedics treat an injured hostage as other hostages are carried out of a cafe in the central business district of SydneySource:AFP

Two of those required CPR at the scene and a woman in her 40s has reportedly been transported to hospital and is being treated for gunshot wounds.

One of those injured is believed to be a place officer who was seen with an amount of blood streaming from his head, Sky News reports.

Authorities are currently attempting to assess the damage and arrange urgent medical attention for the hostages and police.

The 49-year-old, originally from Iran who lived in southwest Sydney, had previously sent offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers, calling them ‘murderers’, The Daily Telegraph says.

He had a sawn-off shotgun and was a fringe Islamist, The Australian and Sky News reports.

The New York Times, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the UK’s Independent and Times, France’s Le Monde and other news websites also were dominated by the harrowing photos of hostages running for their lives.